Wayne State Puts Labor Center Website Back Up, Controversial Material Removed
Does removing the alleged examples of 'political activism' equal an admission of guilt?
Wayne State University put its labor center’s website back online but apparently without the material the Mackinac Center for Public Policy had questioned as violating state law by advocating for union causes.
Ken Braun, the managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential, listed links to material on Wayne State’s Labor Studies Center in an article that explained why he put in a controversial Freedom of Information Act request.
Wayne State responded by taking down the website earlier this week. It was back online Friday, but the questionable material could not be found.
Among the links removed were a guide for activists starting living wage campaigns, links on how to get information on your employer and a paper titled “Understanding and Preventing Privatization.”
Marick Masters, director of the Douglas A. Fraser Center for Workplace Issues and Labor@Wayne, has not returned messages seeking comment.
“The removal of material from the website indicates that university officials had the same concerns we did — that statements and documents on the site appeared to cross the line into political advocacy,” said Michael Jahr, spokesman for the Mackinac Center, in an email. “It’s in the public interest for Wayne State officials to explain the findings of their investigation and the subsequent actions they’ve taken.”
To see the alleged activism pages, since removed, please click here.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.